Inside the machine: an illustrated introduction to microprocessors and computer architecture

320 Pages·2006·9.79 MB·English

by  Jon Stokes

A Look Inside the Silicon Heart of Modern Computing AI
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Computers perform countless tasks ranging us
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from the business critical to the recreational, rai
but regardless of how differently they may look ted
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and behave, they’re all amazingly similar in I
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basic function. Once you understand how the t
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microprocessor—or central processing unit (CPU)— Includes discussion of: od t
works, you’ll have a firm grasp of the fundamental uch
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concepts at the heart of all modern computing. • Parts of the computer and microprocessor i
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• Programming fundamentals (arithmetic ne
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Inside the Machine, from the co-founder of the highly instructions, memory accesses, control M
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respected Ars Technica website, explains how flow instructions, and data types) i
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microprocessors operate—what they do and how • Intermediate and advanced microprocessor r
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they do it. The book uses analogies, full-color concepts (branch prediction and speculative ra
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diagrams, and clear language to convey the ideas execution) c
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that form the basis of modern computing. After • Intermediate and advanced computing s
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discussing computers in the abstract, the book concepts (instruction set architectures, orh
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examines specific microprocessors from Intel, RISC and CISC, the memory hierarchy, and a
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IBM, and Motorola, from the original models up encoding and decoding machine language dn
through today’s leading processors. It contains the instructions) C
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most comprehensive and up-to-date information • 64-bit computing vs. 32-bit computing me
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available (online or in print) on Intel’s latest • Caching and performance u
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processors: the Pentium M, Core, and Core 2 Duo. e
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Inside the Machine also explains technology terms Inside the Machine is perfect for students of A
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and concepts that readers often hear but may not science and engineering, IT and business c
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fully understand, such as “pipelining,” “L1 cache,” professionals, and the growing community i
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“main memory,” “superscalar processing,” and of hardware tinkerers who like to dig into the c
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“out-of-order execution.” guts of their machines.
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Jon “Hannibal” Stokes is co-founder and Senior CPU Editor of Ars Technica. He has written for a variety
of publications on microprocessor architecture and the technical aspects of personal computing. Stokes
holds a degree in computer engineering from Louisiana State University and two advanced degrees in the
humanities from Harvard University. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago.
“This is, by far, the most well written text that I have seen on the subject
of computer architecture.” S An Illustrated Introduction to
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—John Stroman, Technical Account Manager, Intel o Microprocessors and Computer Architecture
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Jon Stokes
THE FINEST IN GEEK ENTERTAINMENT™
www.nostarch.com
$49.95 ($61.95 cdn) shelve in: Computer Hardware
ISBN: 978-1-59327-104-6
54995
9 781593 271046 6 89145 71042 7

INSIDE THE MACHINE

®
San Francisco
itm_TITLE_COPY.fm Page iv Wednesday, March 14, 2007 2:57 PM
INSIDE THE MACHINE. Copyright © 2007 by Jon Stokes.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the prior
written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher.
Printed in Canada
10 09 08 07 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
ISBN-10: 1-59327-104-2
ISBN-13: 978-1-59327-104-6
Publisher: William Pollock
Production Editor: Elizabeth Campbell
Cover Design: Octopod Studios
Developmental Editor: William Pollock
Copyeditors: Sarah Lemaire, Megan Dunchak
Compositor: Riley Hoffman
Proofreader: Stephanie Provines
Indexer: Nancy Guenther
For information on book distributors or translations, please contact No Starch Press, Inc. directly:
No Starch Press, Inc.
555 De Haro Street, Suite 250, San Francisco, CA 94107
phone: [phone]; fax: [phone]; [email protected]; www.nostarch.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stokes, Jon
Inside the machine : an illustrated introduction to microprocessors and computer architecture / Jon
Stokes.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-59327-104-6
ISBN-10: 1-59327-104-2
1. Computer architecture. 2. Microprocessors--Design and construction. I. Title.
TK7895.M5S76 2006
621.39'2--dc22
2005037262
No Starch Press and the No Starch Press logo are registered trademarks of No Starch Press, Inc. Other product and
company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. Rather than use a trademark
symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, we are using the names only in an editorial fashion and to the
benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark.
The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis, without warranty. While every precaution has been
taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author nor No Starch Press, Inc. shall have any liability to any
person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the
information contained in it.
The photograph in the center of the cover shows a small portion of an Intel 80486DX2 microprocessor die at 200x
optical magnification. Most of the visible features are the top metal interconnect layers which wire most of the on-die
components together.
Cover photo by Matt Britt and Matt Gibbs.
To my parents, who instilled in me a love of learning and education,
andtomy grandparents, who footed the bill.

B R I E F C O N T E N T S
Preface........................................................................................................................xv
Acknowledgments....................................................................................................... xvii
Introduction.................................................................................................................xix
Chapter 1: Basic Computing Concepts............................................................................. 1
Chapter 2: The Mechanics of Program Execution............................................................. 19
Chapter 3: Pipelined Execution...................................................................................... 35
Chapter 4: Superscalar Execution.................................................................................. 61
Chapter 5: The Intel Pentium and Pentium Pro.................................................................. 79
Chapter 6: PowerPC Processors: 600 Series, 700 Series, and 7400................................ 111
Chapter 7: Intel’s Pentium 4 vs. Motorola’s G4e: Approaches and Design Philosophies...... 137
Chapter 8: Intel’s Pentium 4 vs. Motorola’s G4e: The Back End....................................... 161
Chapter 9: 64-Bit Computing and x86-64..................................................................... 179
Chapter 10: The G5: IBM’s PowerPC 970.................................................................... 193
Chapter 11: Understanding Caching and Performance................................................... 215
Chapter 12: Intel’s Pentium M, Core Duo, and Core 2 Duo............................................. 235
Bibliography and Suggested Reading........................................................................... 271
Index........................................................................................................................ 275